


Sleepless Nights

by ScienceNerdNick



Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: M/M, My First Fanfic, Sleep Deprivation, a little Klance near the end, not a developed relationship though, please go easy on me, slight langst, thoughts of home
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-07-17
Updated: 2017-07-17
Packaged: 2018-12-03 10:14:43
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,044
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11530116
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ScienceNerdNick/pseuds/ScienceNerdNick
Summary: Lance has gone a week without proper sleep. Nodding off here and there doesn't count as sleep right? He's losing hope he'll ever sleep again, but ends up getting help from an unexpected source.





	Sleepless Nights

The lights inside the Castle Ship dimmed, telling everyone inside that it was time to go to sleep. Everyone, that is, accept Lance.

Lance had been struggling to get a good night's sleep for the last week. Every time he went to lay his head on his pillow, thoughts of home and his family would make it impossible for his brain to shut down for the night. The first night it happened he ended up wandering the halls of the ship until he came across the observation deck. He sat there for the rest of the night looking at the stars, and imagining that one of them had a tiny blue planet orbiting it that he called home.

That's where he found himself again tonight. Sitting in the observation deck looking at the stars. Although going an entire week with minimal sleep started to make them look fuzzy. It wasn't Lance's fault that his stupid brain wouldn't shut down long enough for him to get a few hours of sleep. Not only was his lack of sleep affecting his stargazing, it was affecting his abilities to be a paladin as well. Shiro was the first to notice his lackluster performance after the second day with no sleep.

"Are you okay Lance? You seemed really out of it today." Shiro had asked after training that day.

Lance responded with one of his signature grins that didn't really reach his eyes and said, "Yeah, I'm okay. I just didn't get very much sleep last night." 'Or the night before,' he said in his head.

Shiro seemed to accept his response though. Because he nodded and patted Lance on his shoulder as he walked past him and out of the training deck.

As the week dragged on Lance steadily got worse. Becoming more sluggish, quieter and less like Lance with each passing day. Luckily the week had been quiet. No Galra attacks, no emergency beacons from people calling for help. Small graces that made Lance's sleepless week a little easier to handle. Although as the days went by the other members of Team Voltron began to notice that something was not right with their blue paladin.

Hunk began to worry on day four after Lance nearly collapse from exhaustion during training that day. Shiro had insisted that Lance take the rest of the day off and use that time to rest and recharge. Lance, of course, couldn't because every time he tried to his mind would be filled with memories of the loved ones he left behind, and the feeling of loneliness that came with it.

By day six Lance was a complete wreck. He had abandoned all hope of ever sleeping again, and had completely given up on his skin care routine by day five. He could literally hear his pores screaming in agony. Shiro and Allura had put him on permanent bed rest, with orders that he was not to resume training until he, 'got some damn sleep'. Hunk was a nervous wreck, fretting over his best friend's well being and forcing him to eat during meals. Which wasn't hard since Hunk's cooking was the best in the universe, and Lance had evidence to back that up. Even Pidge had taken time to pry their face away from their computer to ask Lance if there was anything bothering him. Pidge would never say it, but Lance was like a brother to her and she didn't like seeing him suffer. Coran had always thought of Lance as a son, and had taken it upon himself to check up on him multiple times a day.

"Is there anything I can do for you my boy?" He had asked Lance on day six. Looking at him like he was a wounded animal.

" If you have some sleeping pills that are safe for humans that would be great." Lance had said.

Coran immediately ran off in the direction of the infirmary to check the supply of sleep aides that were on the ship. Unfortunately for Lance all of them had substances in them that would've either killed him, or caused permanent organ damage. Just Lance's luck I guess.

The person who seemed the least disturbed by Lance's lack of sleep was Keith. Lance had notice Keith giving him the occasional worried glance whenever they were around each other. But besides that nothing, and Lance was okay with that. Whenever they were around each other in the past they would always end up arguing over something, and Lance didn't need that right now.

That's how his week in hell had been, and how he had ended up in the observation deck for the seventh night in a row. Looking at the stars and hoping that one of them was the one he knew as The Sun. He was so entranced by the stars, and by his sleep deprivation, that he didn't notice someone passing by the door on their way to the kitchen for a glass of water. Or to notice that the person had seen him and had doubled back to stand in the doorway. He didn't register that anyone was there until they had walked into the room and sat down beside him on the floor of the observation deck.

"What are you doing here? I thought Shiro and Allura ordered you to get some rest?" Keith said as he sat down and gazed up at the stars himself.

"I thought you didn't care one way or the other Mullet?" Lance replied without looking at Keith.

"Of course I care. You're a member of Voltron, if one of us is suffering then we all suffer," Keith said. Looking at Lance with the same concerned look he had been giving him for the past few days. "Come on. What's been bothering you so much that you haven't slept all week?"

Lance was reluctant to say anything. He knew that everyone felt homesick from time to time. But the others were still able to function as paladins of Voltron. He didn't want to appear weak to the others, especially Keith. He was about to tell Keith it was nothing when he felt a gentle hand on his shoulder.

"Come on Lance. Please tell me what's wrong. Everyone has been worried sick about you, including me."

Lance couldn't believe what he was hearing. Was he dreaming? Was this sympathetic Keith just a hallucination, created by his mind because he was so tired? No it couldn't be. The Keith sitting in front of him looked too real. Keith's hand on his back felt too real. Keith really was there, and he really did care. Lance decided that if Keith was worried he needed to talk. He needed to get everything off his chest.

"I've been feeling really homesick all week. I don't even mean to feel that way. It's just that every time I lay my head down to sleep my mind is filled with memories of my family, my home. Thoughts of what they're doing, if they still think I'm alive, if I'll ever get back to Earth to see them again. The memories swirl around in my head, relentlessly attacking me until I give up and get out of bed. I've been coming here every night. Looking at the stars relaxes me enough to stop the memories, but never enough to make me sleep," Lance stops talking and takes a deep breath. Relaxing now that he knows everything is out in the open, for better or worse. He begins to wonder if he annoyed Keith with his babbling until he feels the hand on his shoulder rubbing small circles in comfort. Lance looks over at Keith and sees the look of concern again.

"I... I've never been good at comforting people," Keith says, looking at his feet.

"That's the understatement of the year," Lance says with a little smirk.

Keith glared at him and lowered his hand from Lance's shoulder, and Lance had to admit he missed the contact. The spot where Keith's hand had been felt cold and empty now.

Lance figured that that was it and Keith would leave him now and go back to bed, but he didn't. He just went back to staring at his feet.

A couple minutes passed in complete silence before Keith spoke up again.

"I know you feel alone out here, in space, without your family around you. I felt the same way when I was living in that shack in the desert. I had plenty of nights where I would lay awake and think of the people I missed. My dad, my mom, Shiro." Keith paused and took a deep breathe before continuing. "But then Shiro came back, and I met the rest of you guys, and for the first time in a long time I didn't feel alone. Yeah we fight with each other, but we also fight for each other. And there's only one word for that... family."

Lance let Keith's word sink in. It took him a minute because his brain was so sleep deprived, but then it finally clicked. 'Family'. Team Voltron felt like a family to him too. Yes he missed his family back on Earth, he missed them with all of his heart, but he also had another family. Team Voltron, and they all cared for him deeply. He wasn't alone.

It felt like a huge weight had been lifted. Not only off of Lance's shoulders, but off of Lance's mind as well. The memories of his family were still there, but they weren't oppressive anymore. His mind felt at peace.

Lance looked over at Keith and smiled. "Thank you Keith. You're not as much of a sour puss as I thought."

Keith smiled back, but not before lightly punching Lance's arm.

Lance would've reacted to that but all of the exhaustion of the last week started to come crashing down around him. Lance could barely keep his eyes open.

Keith noticed this and stood up, offering Lance a helping hand. "Would you like some help getting back to your room, or were you planning on just falling asleep on the floor here?"

As much as Lance wanted to just pass out on the floor of the Observatory. He also knew that his body would hate him for it in the morning. So, begrudgingly, he took the hand that Keith offered him and felt himself get pulled up onto his feet. Lance figured that Keith would just leave it at that, but then he felt a hand on the middle of his back as Keith began to walk him back to his room.

"Wow, this new caring Keith is a lot more fun to be around." Lance said, surprised he could still make a joke in his condition.

"Don't be ridiculous. I'm just making sure you get back to your room is all. Can't have someone finding you passed out in the hallway in the morning. They might take to the infirmary and perform some brain scans, then we'd find just how little you have in that skull of yours." Keith said. A smile plastered across his face.

" Aaand caring Keith is gone. That was fast." Lance said. Finding himself very happy that the door to his bedroom was coming up.

Keith didn't take his hand off of Lance's back until the door was staring them in the face, and once again Lance felt like that spot on his back was cold and empty now. Whatever, he'll deal with that tomorrow. For right now the only thing Lance cared about was the bed only few feet away. 

But before he went inside he turned to Keith, giving him a gracious smile. "Thanks again for everything Keith. I don't know what I would've done without you."

" You would've figured it out eventually. But I'm glad I could help. It's what family is for right?" Keith asked, returning the smile.

"Right." Lance said.

"Well I'll see you tomorrow, and you better be rested up." Keith said.

"I will be. See you tomorrow." Lance said before turning around and heading into his room to get ready for bed.

That night Lance fell asleep to thoughts of his Voltron family, and of a warm comforting hand on his back.

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you so much if you took the time to read this. It was my first fanfiction ever, so please be gentle. I hope to write more in the future. I've got a few ideas floating around in my head. Getting it on paper is the hard part.


End file.
